Santa Monica Airport hosts Art Walk

The Santa Monica Airport will showcase works of art from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 28th, during the third annual Airport Art Walk.

The public is invited to meet some of the many artists who make the Santa Monica Airport a center of creativity at the Art Walk, hosted by the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division.

The event is eagerly anticipated not only by the many visitors who get the rare opportunity to see works in progress but also by the artists themselves who have found the show to be a valuable opportunity to have their work seen by the public, a city cultural affairs spokesperson said. Many of the artists said they have sold their creations during the Art Walk.

ìLos Angeles Countyís oldest operating airstrip, the Santa Monica Airport, is embedded with a rich historical background as the birthplace of the DC-3,î says Hamp Simmons, supervisor of the cityís Cultural Affairs Division.

ìBut in addition to its aeronautical roots, it has also developed over time into an art and cultural incubator and is now an alluring destination occupied by a number of artistic and cultural venues.î

Artists participating in the walk this year include noted local artists such as Fielden Harper, Jodi Fuchs, Michelle Oppenheimer, and Greg Gioiosa as well as dozens of other artists.

An array of private artist studios along Airport Avenue will be open to visitors during the Art Walk, including the Santa Monica College Ceramic Studios and Art Mentor Program, and the Ruskin Group Theatre. The studios display the work of over 60 local artists.

Santa Monica Art Studios, a converted airplane hangar that includes the Sherry Frumkin Gallery and Arena One, with more than 30 artists, also plans to open its doors to the public during the event.

This year, the Arena One Gallery is featuring a new addition to the Art Walk ñ the South Asian American Art Festival, with over 120 dynamic artworks including photographs, installations, sculpture and videos by 25 artists. The exhibition Dialogue in Art presents artists native to regions of south Asia including Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, exploring political, religious, ethnic, and identity issues through their work.

Another expected highlight is scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Frumkin Gallery, where author Gene Hirshhorn LePere, daughter of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, will sign copies of her book Little Man in a Big Hurry.

The books tells the ìrags to richesî story of an immigrant Jewish boy, who arrived in the United States from Latvia at age eight and through oversized ambition, energy, smarts, luck, and determination, accumulated a multi-million-dollar collection of contemporary art now housed on the Mall in Washington, D.C., in a Smithsonian Museum which bears his name – The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

At the Santa Monica College Ceramic Studios visitors can get a close look at the creation of ceramic artworks. Students will be on-site to demonstrate the various steps, from molding the clay through glazing and firing the finished designs. Students from the Art Mentor Program will have their work on display in the college facility, along with a special sale of student ceramic and glass works.

The Ruskin Group Theater will perform highlights from its trademark monthly offering L.A. CafÈ Plays at 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Admission is free. The CafÈ Plays are short pieces of theater that go from concept to execution in just ten and a half hours.

Information on the Art Walk, the Cultural Affairs Division at (310) 458-8350.